Synopsis

The boy who sits next to Yokoi in class, Seki-kun, is always up to something at his desk. He manages to somehow play very elaborate games without attracting the teacher's attention. From dominos, to shogi, to go, to mecha models, to playing with cats and more, he always has something new to do. Yokoi often finds herself getting reluctantly interested in his games, even though they always seem to end up getting HER in trouble with the teacher!

Background

In 2012, Tonari no Seki-kun was nominated for the 5th Manga Taishou Award.

The series has been published in English as My Neighbor Seki by Vertical Inc. under the Vertical Comics imprint since January 13, 2015 and in Spanish as El pupitre de al lado by Tomodomo Ediciones since May 18, 2015.

Tonari no Seki-kun is about a girl trying to be diligent and pay attention in class but she keeps being distracted by the guy sitting next to her. He never talks to her, or says anything over the entire course of the manga. She gets distracted by the weird and wonderful games and distractions he cooks up during class. These include things like modelling a miniature driving school complete with handmade driving license for when he finishes. Or dramatic re-enactment of historical betrayals and wars through the use of shogi pieces. Try as she can to continue paying attention in class, she can’t help but
get drawn into the fantastical stories being played out on his table, which always mysteriously disappears as soon as she tries alert the teacher to his actions.

The comedy in Tonari no Seki-kun is contrasting the absurdity with the mundane. The juxtaposition between the mundane classroom and worries of Yokoi, the distracted girl, and the fantastical absurd creations of Seki, the dude next to her, go a long way to drawing out the inherent humour of his actions. Making a joke about the crushing fear of driving tests is made funnier when presented as someone’s tabletop construction, doubly so when the nervousness is entirely of his own creation. It would be very easy for this formula to base all the jokes around how random the activity Seki is doing because lol random nichijou is my favourite anime ever because I have no concept of what constitutes humour lol random etc. That’s how a fair number of the jokes start out, but they work because of how Yokoi gets invested in the story being built on Seki’s table. She starts trying to ignore him but then gets invested and often actively involved in proceedings. Throwing random shogi at his creation to dramatically change the narrative Seki is building and other such acts make her an active participant in the story and draws the two of them together in a silent war.

That is about it. Every chapter revolves around this formula, with Yokoi and Seki being practically the only characters. They introduce a lady friend later on who gets convinced Yokoi and Seki are dating and, along with a few male characters, but the trick is none of them realise what Seki is doing. The lady friend believes Yokoi’s intense fascination with the contents of Seki’s table are because she’s lovestruck. She may have a point too. The two of them do seem rather taken with each other. Obviously we hear what Yokoi is thinking, but between the facial expressions and reactions of Seki, you get the feeling he does enjoy the attention Yokoi gives him. Yes I’m reading too much into this, but it’s a sign of how surprisingly well the characterisation of Seki and Yokoi is that I’m able to draw these conclusions. Seki is not just a guy who does fantastical things and Yokoi is not just a girl who goes “WHAAAAAAT” at his actions. They are human beings reacting to each other and that’s what makes it funny.

I’ll admit that Tonari no Seki-kun is totally My Kind of Thing. There isn’t anything resembling a plot in the slightest and every chapter follows the same formula. I can see why someone would find this repetitive and get old quickly. But for what it’s worth, I find the author plays around with the inherently funny formula enough that the jokes continue being funny. Give the first chapter or two a shot and you’ll very quickly see what kind of manga it is and whether you would enjoy it.

Have you ever got bored on class? Probably yes. And you probably tried to do everything but listen to it, setting your own games with what you have in hands. That’s how Seki, the main character, passes his days on school. To minigolf with cracks on the table to a war game with pieces of chess. But what if someone on the class notice what are you doing and try to go along? And so you have Yokoi, the classmate who is the only one that noticed Seki and his games, and do some sort of narration for them, which are also the punchlines and
where is the humor of the manga.

The relationship of the characters are also established this way. Seki is just the misterious boy who never talks and is a genius in doing improvised games. Yokoi just do the punchlines for herself and sometimes get so much on the games that she tries to prevent some of his doings. We also sometimes have another classmate which just misunderstands Yokoi actions and believes she likes Seki. As for their development, I don't really see any of the characters changing. And they don't need to, as the manga depends on them following their roles.

So, it's just a one gag for all the chapters. Sure will go down and became lame after some time. Well, I prefer to believe that the author has an idea to how long it will work and I don't see it lasting much longer, anyway. In the end, what matters is how your enjoyed what you could.

Ok I randomly found this manga at my local B.A.M when going to the mall (yes when I go to the mall I always go to the bookstore for books instead of clothes-sue me)
Anyways I find this manga to be very cute and hilarious. It defiantly exceeded my expectations of when I was just reading the back. This is some type of Phenius and Ferb stuff. Instead of the Candace trying to bust her brothers it's the main charter Rumi. Who is just trying to pay attention in but instead is distracted by Seki.
That's the basic formula and you think it would be bad or
at least not as entertaining as it is. The charters interactions are just hilarious and the high jinx ensues.
The only think I find lacking in the artwork in this manga (which isn't bad but isn't that good either, just average)but it can be forgiven by the hilarious plot of the story.
The charters just include Rumi and Seki- although there are some other side charters they introduce Seki and Rumi are the two main charters. The two main charters are hilarious and charming. They interactions are just gold!
Rumi- is the "straight charter" whos interactions is played off of Seki's high jinxe. She tries her best to pay attention in class but is often distracted by Seki's antics. She is very serious about her sturdies but can get carried away sometimes.
Seki- the silent guy who sits next to Rumi. He often gets bored in class and you can never tell what he is going to do next. He can be hard headed, and serious when it comes to his games but is overall a very creative guy.

I personally enjoyed the manga and would recommend it-give it a try. I do see how people might get bored with the same plot premise so if you pick up the first book and don't like it then maybe it's not for you (although I do recommend to at least give it a try). I personally enjoyed this manga a lot.